Lullaby - Peter Everwine

Last night, in the dark, something
came near and frightened me
and left me turning in my bed, listening
to the hum of a mosquito---almost the timbre
of a human voice---as it came and went.
She must have entered from the garden
through the torn screen, looking
to calm a need of her own
and called too---so I've been told---
by the sound a heart makes.
No, this isn't another metaphor
meant to adorn a romantic tale.
Like you, I'd kill a mosquito in a moment.
But it does make one stop and think
how driven we are, even the least, to hear
the world's incessant undersong---
even if it was never meant for us
or never anything but clamor we wanted to be song---
and how much we love it, and with what sadness,
knowing we have to turn away
and enter the dark.